Josh Fuga, a senior defensive tackle, has announced that he will rejoin Virginia Tech in 2024.
With the announcement over the weekend that top edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland intended to return for the 2024 season and postpone his NFL debut, Virginia Tech received a significant boost to their defensive line for the 2024 campaign.
Joshua Fuga, senior captain defensive tackle, stated minutes ago that he will return for the 2024 season next fall, taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility carried over from the 2020 season. This gives the Hokies even more excellent news on the defensive line front.
The Hokies are going to lose three defensive tackles at the end of the season: Mario Kendricks, Norell Pollard, and Pheldarius Payne, so Fuga’s return is a huge help.
Fuga, a senior in his fifth year, has played a significant role in Virginia Tech’s defensive line rotation, logging over 275 defensive line snaps this season. Fuga, a former three-star prospect from Woodbridge, Virginia’s Freedom High School, has participated in all 12 of the Hokies’ games this season, starting some of them.
According to Pro Football Focus, Fuga has played in 47 games throughout his tenure in Blacksburg and has accrued 1,349 defensive line snaps overall.
Fuga played in just one game in 2019 before being placed on the redshirt. Fuga was a reserve in 2020 as a redshirt freshman. He participated in all 11 games and finished with 10 tackles and one sack. Fuga made 13 appearances for the Hokies the next season, including three starts and tallying 21 tackles. Fuga participated in ten games in 2022, starting five of them.
In order to fill the void at defensive tackle when the Virginia Tech Huskies conclude their 2023 campaign, it is anticipated that they would add transfer portal assistants to help prepare for the following fall.
According to sources who spoke with VTSCOOP, Virginia Tech wide receiver Da’Wain Lofton intends to end his career elsewhere and has registered on the NCAA Transfer Portal.
After amassing 5,135 yards and 62 touchdowns in his high school career at North Side High School, the junior out of Fort Worth, Texas, was a major recruiting victory for former Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente in the 2021 class.
Lofton skipped his redshirt year and played in 12 games as a true freshman after enrolling at Virginia Tech. Despite this, he only had seven receptions for 98 yards and one touchdown during the season. Lofton increased his output as a sophomore, hauling in 22 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, before Virginia Tech remodeled their wide receiver room and buried him in transfers.
Lofton had just six receptions for 58 yards during his junior year in 2023.
He can redshirt if necessary and still have one more year of eligibility as a transfer.
Associated: Transfer Tracker at Virginia Tech
The transfer portal opened on December 4, 2023, for the first time during the 23–24 cycle, and it will close on January 2, 2024, following the introduction of portal windows. On April 16 and ending on April 30, the second spring window will be open.
On October 15, 2018, the NCAA unveiled the portal, giving athletes a way to look into their alternatives. In order to transfer, players are not need to get permission from their coaching staff. All they have to do is ask for their name to be entered into compliance. It often takes a player between 24 and 48 hours to respond to their request and appear. Once a player’s name appears on the portal, schools are able to get in touch with them whenever they want.
Although putting their name in the transfer portal indicates that a player plans to consider their options, it does not guarantee that they will depart. A player may remove his name from the game at any moment. However, once a player enters the portal, colleges are not required to retain them on scholarship.
The college football season of 2023 is almost over. All of the bowl game matchups, including the College Football Playoff pairings and New Year’s Six matchups, are decided and will be revealed in the upcoming weeks. There will be a national champion from Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama, and many more will have the chance to finish their campaigns with a single win.
The Orange Bowl matchup between Florida State and Georgia, the Cotton Bowl matchup between Ohio State and Missouri, and the Peach Bowl matchup between Penn State and Ole Miss are some of the most exciting non-Playoff contests. There is a good chance that other games besides the New Year’s Six will be quite entertaining.
Following Sunday’s selection process, Caesars Sportsbook released betting lines for every bowl game. While a number of factors, including injuries, coaching changes, opt-outs, and transfer portals, could change the field before kickoff, an early look at the spreads provides insight into which teams might prevail in their respective season-ending matchups.
Among the more inspirational tales of the 2023 season was James Madison’s debut season in the FBS. The Dukes won eleven straight games. Although they were eliminated from the Sun Belt Championship Game and missed out on a New Year’s Six game, they now have a chance to face a top-tier Group of Five team for a chance to win a record 12 games. That relates to a very potent program building block.
With two inferior offenses facing off against one another and Utah’s strong defense in play, the Las Vegas Bowl has the potential to be one of the lowest-scoring games of the postseason. Meanwhile, a quiet but very interesting clash between Kansas and UNLV takes place. Under new head coach Barry Odom, the Rebels had a first-year breakout season and were among the top Group of Five programs all season. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks undercoached Lance Leipold advanced further.
The absence of Caleb Williams from the Holiday Bowl lessens the excitement around USC vs. Louisville, an otherwise intriguing matchup. The Trojans’ explosive offense takes on a strong foe, while the struggling Cardinals offense faces up against what may be the most disappointing defensive team in NCAA football. In that conflict, something has to give.
With the exception of the New Year’s Six games, the Alamo Bowl may be the most well-known postseason game. Arizona and Oklahoma, two teams who made significant progress early in the careers of their respective head coaches, square off in the top-14. Brent Venables led the Sooners to third place in the Big 12, while Jedd Fisch led the Wildcats to third place in the Pac-12.
